Updated ‘Remember the First Ladies’ Captures History in the Making
A ‘powerful’ portrait of Melania Trump, the demolished East Wing and new research on early presidential spouses are among the updates in a scholarly book on America’s first ladies.
A lot has happened since the first edition of Remember the First Ladies: The Legacy of America’s History-Making Women was published in early 2024. Notably, a former first lady—Melania Trump—returned to the White House in 2025 after her husband, Donald Trump, was elected to a second, nonconsecutive term. And the White House East Wing, which houses the Office of the First Lady, was demolished, shocking the American public.
For co-authors Diana B. Carlin, Anita B. McBride and Nancy Kegan Smith, the past two years were enough to prompt an updated version of the book that shows the evolutionary role of first lady and its historic importance on the American presidency.
Major updates include expanded sections on Melania Trump focusing on her second tenure, her artificial intelligence initiatives, her advocacy for the Take It Down Act, and her public image presented through a striking White House portrait, her recently released memoir and a feature film about and produced by Mrs. Trump. The updated book also includes former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s completion of tenure, the 2024 campaign involvement, and public criticisms.
McBride, who worked on sections that included Mrs. Trump and Dr. Biden, called the first year of Mr. Trump’s second term “robust” for the first lady. She noted Mrs. Trump’s efforts advocating for AI in education; her letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging the reunification of Ukrainian children taken during the war between the two countries; and her approach from day one.
“Although the three of us don’t really focus a lot on fashion, we did make note of the look that Melania Trump clearly wanted to project as a woman in control and in power,” McBride told East Wing Magazine during a recent interview with the authors. That included a reference in the updated book to Melania Trump’s second and very dramatic White House portrait showing her on the second floor of the Executive Residence with the Washington Monument over her shoulder. The image, McBride said, portrays Mrs. Trump as a business woman.
The updated book also shows a striking aerial image of the White House campus in the immediate days after the East Wing was demolished to make way for Donald Trump’s White House ballroom. McBride noted the book references plans for a new East Wing along with mostly negative public sentiment about seeing the demolition.
“This is all captured in the chapter that’s about being stewards of the White House,” she said.
Other updates were made to reflect the new research on First Ladies Jane Pierce, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison and Caroline Harrison.
Smith recently read research by a professor about Abigail Adams (the wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States), which referenced Abigail Adams growing up with enslaved people.
“It hadn’t been in any of the books that Diana and Anita and I had looked at, and it not only said a lot about Abigail, it said a lot about our nation at the time—that there was no one part that could absolve itself dealing with the institution of slavery. It wasn’t a regional issue, it was an issue all over the country,” Smith said, adding that partly explained Abigail Adams’ adamant sentiment about not having enslaved people and about being an abolitionist.
A notable correction the updated version of the book makes is that Dolley Madison—not Eleanor Roosevelt—was the first, first lady in a combat zone when she saved the iconic Gilbert Stuart George Washington portrait from the White House before the British could burn it during the War of 1812.
Updates were also made to a lesser known first lady—Caroline Harrison.
“She really did support the advancement of women more than we said in the first edition,” Smith said. “We updated her speech in 1892 as the first president general of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and how important it was to her to make the point that women played a huge and significant role in the founding of our country.”
The book includes both biographical and thematic chapters. It examines the influence of the first ladies on topics such as civil rights, political campaigns, major speeches, and the White House across the span of the nation’s history.
Since its initial release, the book has been continually updated every six months thanks to print-on-demand, allowing for timely corrections and additions.
“About every six months they’ve asked us to submit corrections that we found, or if there is something updated, so the book is continually being updated or corrected,” said Carlin. “I think that’s an important thing.”
Calendar
July 7, 2026
White House History Live: In Pursuit of America’s Past
The White House Historical Association presents its Facebook Live series, White House History Live, which will feature a discussion about In Pursuit, a new initiative from More Perfect, led by the country’s most insightful and respected students of history, to explore our nation’s first 250 years and distill its most timeless lessons to inspire and inform our future. Join In Pursuit CEO Colleen Shogan, who served as the 11th Archivist of the United States, and Jim Ambuske, Director of Digital History at More Perfect, for a conversation about the trials and triumphs of some of America’s presidents and first ladies.
This virtual event will be live streamed on the White House Historical Association’s Facebook and YouTube pages starting at 5:30 pm ET on July 7. Read more
July 10, 2026
Legacy Lecture: A Tea with Ohio’s First Ladies
Experience history in a new way as Women in History Ohio brings Helen Taft, Ida McKinley, and Florence Harding together for a virtual tea. The First Ladies Library & Museum in Canton, Ohio, presents a virtual program from noon to 1 p.m. EDT on July 10, 2026, featuring the three former first lady portrayals as women connected to Ohio and the White House whose lives spanned very different eras of American history. Read more
July 12, 2026
The Eleanor Roosevelt Day of Kindness
Join the Eleanor Roosevelt Center (ERVK) in Hyde Park, New York and the Be A Friend Project for a youth event focused on bullying prevention, kindness and allyship on the grounds of Val-Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt’s home. Young people of all ages are invited to come together and stand up against bullying. The event will feature a variety of fun and empowering activities, including kindness crafts, guest speakers, and the Be A Friend Project’s “Friend Mail” letter-writing campaign to show support for children who are currently experiencing bullying. There will also be an opportunity to help set a record for the largest community kindness pledge in Dutchess County, New York. The Day of Kindness is centered on values Eleanor Roosevelt held close: empathy, compassion, and standing up for others. Bring a picnic, and spend the afternoon raising awareness about bullying prevention and the importance of kindness. Read more
July 25, 2026
Suffragist Tea Party
The Clinton Presidential Library presents an in-person Suffragist Tea Party on Saturday, July 25, at 2 p.m. CT in commemoration of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
This event will feature tea party snacks and beverages to recognize Arkansas’ unique and progressive place in the history of women’s fight for equality. Beginning in 1917, Arkansas allowed women to vote in primary elections. At the time, it was the only non-suffrage state to grant this right. On July 28, 1919, Arkansas became the 12th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, and the first Southern state to do so. This festive celebration is hosted as part of the Clinton Presidential Center’s America250 commemorations, honoring the nation’s history and recognizing important lessons to improve its future. Period attire is not required but encouraged. Read more
Aug. 4, 2026
White House History Live: An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln
The White House Historical Association presents at 5:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 4, 2026, White House History Live: An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln, its YouTube and Facebook Live series.
Former Washington Post writer and columnist Lois Romano joins to discuss her new biography of Mary Todd Lincoln, one of the most misunderstood and vilified first ladies in American history. Romano’s research draws on hundreds of archives, letters, and memoirs to provide the most complete portrait—of not simply of an inconvenient widow, but of a brilliant and flawed woman, who possessed uncommon tenacity in the face of extraordinary adversity and personal torment, and helped launch one of America’s greatest presidents.
This virtual event will be live streamed on the White House Historical Association’s Facebook and YouTube pages starting at 5:30 pm ET on August 4. Read more
Aug. 7, 2026
Legacy Lecture: Mary Lincoln’s Photograph Album
The National First Ladies Library & Museum presents the virtual “Legacy Lecture: Mary Lincoln’s Photograph Album” with scholar Laura Keyes exploring a remarkable piece of personal history and what it reveals about Mary Lincoln and the Lincoln family.
Through the images she preserved, the album tells not only Mrs. Lincoln’s story but also the story of the Lincoln family during one of the most pivotal eras in American history. Read more
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